RESIDENTS of Barangay Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu City, no longer have to endure the terrible dust and noise coming from General Milling Corp. (GMC) after complaints regarding the plant’s pollution were published in SunStar Cebu.
A female resident of Purok Gmelina in the aforementioned barangay told SunStar Cebu Thursday, April 13, 2023, that the dust and noise pollution have so far been controlled by the management days after their complaints were reported on March 6.
The resident, who asked not to be named, said GMC put up a net that would help prevent and minimize dust from entering their houses.
“Ever since we complained, our situation has improved a lot. It’s not as dusty as before although there is still dust coming from there,” she said in Cebuano.
Another resident also said they had a hard time addressing the problem for several years since the dust often entered their living rooms and landed on their clothes, cabinets and appliances.
“It was so bad before because there was dust all the time; we couldn’t bear it,” she said, adding that a lot of residents, particularly children and senior citizens, had experienced persistent cough due to the dust.
Poblacion residents urged GMC to maintain its mitigating measures to finally put an end to the problem and so as not to affect nearby communities anymore including the residents of Barangay Pajo.
GMC executive vice president Joselito Fausto Parco, on March 9, told SunStar Cebu, that the company had come up with an action plan to resolve the issue following a meeting with Poblacion Barangay Captain Tirso Tumulak, Pajo Barangay Captain Lyndel Bullos, and representatives of the Lapu-Lapu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro), City Health Office (CHO) and Environmental Management Bureau in Central Visayas (EMB 7).
Parco said they began minimizing and limiting the unloading activities at GMC South End Wharf.
He also said GMC would install wind sacks that would determine the wind direction and help the GMC plant decide on when to limit its unloading operations so as not to affect nearby communities.
GMC will also provide a windbreaker dust control system at the South End Wharf facing the residential areas while it plans to install a dust collector system on its existing hopper.